[video=youtube;wA6AIurizEM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA6AIurizEM&list=UUdF5d0UwSJJunRcRVzP1uDg&index=2&feature=plcp[/video]
[QUOTE][B]A Russian Soyuz rocket has launched from French Guiana - only the second such vehicle to fly out of the territory's new Sinnamary spaceport.[/B]
[B]The Soyuz put six satellites in orbit, including France's new Pleiades-1 high-resolution imaging spacecraft.[/B]
This satellite is designed to produce pictures that resolve features on the ground as small as 50cm across.
The capability will put it on a par with the leading US commercial systems operated by GeoEye and DigitalGlobe.
[B]Lift-off occurred on schedule at 23:03 local time, Friday (02:03 GMT, Saturday), with Pleiades-1 being dropped off in its 700km-high polar orbit some 55 minutes later.[/B]
[B]The 970kg satellite is the result of a near-decade-long programme in the French space agency (Cnes) to develop one of the most powerful Earth observation systems in the world.[/B]
The spacecraft's sensor actually has a resolution of 70cm, but image processing will recover detail that is around the half-metre mark.
Pleiades carries gyroscopes that allow it to swivel its telescope in quick time, enabling it to acquire a strip, or mosaic, of images around its target in a single pass overhead.
The Pleiades spacecraft has been assembled by Astrium, Europe's largest space company, with its instrument supplied by Thales Alenia Space (France).
It will have both a civilian and military role, and a number of European countries (Austria, Belgium, Spain and Sweden) have part-funded the project to get access to its pictures.
Pleiades-1 will be followed by Pleiades-2 on a separate Soyuz launch in 2013.
[B]"The fact that we will have two, twin satellites operating in a phased orbit separated by 180 degrees will give us something very powerful - a daily re-visit capacity. It means we will be able to gather information every day on any part of the globe," explained Charlotte Gabriel Robez, Pleiades project manager with Astrium Geo-information Services.[/B]
[B]"This is key because it allows us to tackle applications such as rescue or crisis management, in the aftermath of an earthquake for example,[/B]" she told BBC News.
The commercial market for very high resolution imagery has become dominated in recent years by the American companies GeoEye and DigitalGlobe, which benefit from multi-billion-dollar contracts with the US intelligence agencies.
Astrium Geo-information Services is hoping these agencies' voracious appetite for pictures will leave a productive hole in the market for Pleiades' products.
The Soyuz rocket flew its inaugural mission from Europe's Sinnamary spaceport in October. A dedicated new launch pad has been constructed in the Guianese jungle for the Russian vehicle.
By operating closer to the equator, the rocket receives a bigger boost from the Earth's rotation, meaning it can lift nearly double the mass of a comparable payload at its traditional home in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
[B]The Soyuz' five other "passengers" included a high-resolution imaging satellite for the Chilean military called SSOT; and four radar eavesdropping spacecraft developed for the French military. All six satellites were manufactured by Astrium.[/B][/QUOTE]
Now that's efficiency, using the Soyuz which is really robust and dependable, to put 6 sats in orbit in a single run. Having to put them all in separately would have cost a lot more I believe.
790 kN per booster.. Farkkkkkk!
Dunno why people hadn't thought of launching from the equator before, considering how it allows for heavier payloads. Might be that France is the only country with the funds and suitable territory to build such a site. Pretty awesome boost in efficiency.
I find the soyuz rockets to be very aesthetically pleasing
Fuck yes european space program
Looks who's ahead now America!
[QUOTE=Scrimp;38675356]Looks who's ahead now America![/QUOTE]
Sure, they achieved orbit to place a satellite..
But.. America landed a minivan on mars.
[video=youtube;jQqDA04y7_g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQqDA04y7_g[/video]
[QUOTE=Bradyns;38675418]Sure, they achieved orbit to place a satellite..
But.. America landed a minivan on mars.
[video=youtube;jQqDA04y7_g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQqDA04y7_g[/video][/QUOTE]
And Finland made the first manned landing on Mars, your point?
[IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/343g3fs.jpg[/IMG]
I don't really care which country takes the next step in space as long as it just happens. We need to get off this rock. Good going, France.
Hey, guys, there's no point in arguing which country is áhead or spends the most money or what have you. Space exploration is a collaborative effort.
[QUOTE=Bradyns;38675418]Sure, they achieved orbit to place a satellite..
But.. America landed a minivan on mars.
[/QUOTE]
To-Shay.
It's amazing to think that the soyuz rocket is a design which was first flown in 1966, and the soyuz 2 1968. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
Although i'm sure the avionics have been updated, the design is essentially identical.
[QUOTE=Mixed Sources;38677141]It's amazing to think that the soyuz rocket is a design which was first flown in 1966, and the soyuz 2 1968. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
Although i'm sure the avionics have been updated, the design is essentially identical.[/QUOTE]
Love how humanity invents things that remain mostly unchanged even fifty years later and are still in use.
[quote]This satellite is designed to produce pictures that resolve features on the ground as small as 50cm across.
[/quote]
Holy shit. For us Americans, that's nearly 20 inches.
[QUOTE=Scrimp;38675356]Looks who's ahead now America![/QUOTE]
Wow it's not like we don't have a fleet of Delta 4's and the upcoming SLS
[QUOTE=DesolateGrun;38678082]Wow it's not like we don't have a fleet of Delta 4's and the upcoming SLS[/QUOTE]
SLS won't launch until nearly 2018.
[QUOTE=Bradyns;38675418]Sure, they achieved orbit to place a satellite..
But.. America landed a minivan on mars.[/QUOTE]
America probably spent the most resources and manpower into that shit too.
Which means that any country could do the same if they were in America's position.
In fact, with the resources and manpower we have collectively, we could easily do much more than that.
[QUOTE=Medevilae;38678881]Even the ESA has greater funding than Roscosmos, and both of their budgets combined is about half of that of NASA- and we all know NASA is relatively underfunded
JAXA receives less funding than Roscosmos. China's NSA receives less than JAXA.
The major space agencies of the world could stand to get a bit more $$$
"Any country could do what America did if they were in America's position"
you don't say[/QUOTE]
To be fair, ESA is 18 countries but they need a partnership with a major space agency such as NASA or Roscosmos because of multiple factors.
[QUOTE=Gekkosan;38678762]America probably spent the most resources and manpower into that shit too.
Which means that any country could do the same if they were in America's position.
In fact, with the resources and manpower we have collectively, we could easily do much more than that.[/QUOTE]
Yeah but basically we're stuck between two parties and the only one that seems to want to fund NASA is the one that also likes to fund multibillion dollar wars
so we're fucked. Europe/Asia's turn now, unless we seriously get our shit together.
[QUOTE=Forumaster;38678113]SLS won't launch until nearly 2018.[/QUOTE]
which is right around the corner, relatively
[QUOTE=laserguided;38680330]To be fair, ESA is 18 countries but they need a partnership with a major space agency such as NASA or Roscosmos because of multiple factors.[/QUOTE]
ESA essentially lacks two important factors to be honest.
Legacy launchers and infrastructure - since the ESA never took part of the old space race. Technologically though, they are pretty nicely positioned.
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